There’s something new in downtown Oakland.
It’s 190 feet tall and by all accounts, it’s gorgeous. Everyone walking along Broadway agrees that a 19-story-tall laughing little girl is striking.
"It’s beautiful. It’s beautiful," one passerby told KCBS Radio.
The mural is called "The Child" and sits on the side of Oakland’s Marriott City Center at 1001 Broadway. It’s the work of international artist Victor Ash, who works on a grand scale. This largest work of art in Oakland is also his biggest.
It comes with a message.
"The purpose of this mural is zero hunger," he said. "It’s about sharing what we have (and) giving it to people. That’s why."
The artwork is sponsored by the United Nations World Food Program and Street Art For Mankind, part of their large-scale "Zero Hunger Murals" series in cities around the country. Other murals have also gone up in New Orleans, Houston, Detroit, Battle Creek and Washington, D.C.
They’re meant to "raise awareness and mobilize action to combat global food insecurity and, in the US, food injustice that disproportionately impacts African-American communities."
The Oakland mural’s official inauguration is scheduled for Friday.
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